Battle for Earth
by nedlet
Summary: Master Chief returns from Halo to discover the Covenant have found Earth. Attack is imminent! CHAPTER 3 IS HERE TO STAY
1. Default Chapter

In the inky, absolute black of space a light appeared. Only a pinprick in the infinite darkness, gradually growing till, with a burst of charged particles and electrical plasma, a rift over half a mile wide and mile high ripped in to normal space.  
  
Onboard the UNSC station 'Protector' orbiting Earth, red alert was sounded on all levels. Scanners and weapons were aligned on the rift (The problem with Sub-Space is that no scanner in existence can scan across the rift to Sub-Space, it works the other way too, if the Covenant were making a jump to Earth they would be blind in normal space until they arrived). All the crews tensed at their stations waiting.  
  
Sitting at the comm. computer, Private Dyane Cole on his first real action, sat nervously, sweat on his forehead, hoping to receive a signal. The Covenant never tried to make contact. They are on what can only be called a religious crusade. From captured species (The Covenant is actually a group of many different species) we have acquired an understanding of the main language they use to communicate and learnt that there can be no compromise with out total conversion to their religion.  
  
Mankind had no desire to go back to the so-called Holy Wars.  
  
Religion is still present on Earth and the colonies but in a minority. It isn't punished or ridiculed, its just people have woke up to being in control of their own destiny. Everyone had learnt about the horrors in the 21st – 23rd century at school. Nazis, Genocide, suicide bombers and nuclear war because conflicting beliefs. They weren't ready for religion again.  
  
Private Dyane Cole's headset crackled to life, nearly giving him a heart attack in his twitchy state.  
  
# This is Cortana, A.I Construct from the Pillar of Autumn. Security Clearance Alpha 683 Omega, requesting docking co-ordinates#  
  
Relief flooded through Dyane's veins, the Pillar of Autumn was a UNSC ship and the security clearance was nearly the highest possible, if it wasn't for the Captain and the Master Chief.  
  
The relief was so great he almost slumped back into his chair in ecstasy, luckily the training took over and his hand slammed onto the Open Communication button.  
  
# ALL LEVELS, TARGET IS FRIENDLY! , REPEAT TARGET IS FRIENDLY!!! , HOLD FIRE AND STAND DOWN!#  
  
"Codes accepted and docking co-ordinates received" Cortana relayed to Master Chief.  
  
Living inside his neural interface was beginning to grate. Here she was, used to living in the systems of an entire battleship and stuck inside a genetically grown, super soldiers' armour. Its not that the Master Chiefs' head was a bad place to be, he was a hero, saving the Galaxy, maybe the Universe, from the weapon of Halo.  
  
It was the endless wait, Master Chief slept during Sub-Space, Cortana was awake the whole time thinking about the war with the Covenant. She was programmed with top-level military tactics and every simulation she had run, if the Covenant found Earth the war was over. The Covenant would win.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
The sleek, matt black craft emerged from the disturbance of the rift and set a course for the station.  
  
Cortana woke the Master Chief from his sleep in the Cryo Chamber and both were surprised by the sensor readings. Earth has always been well defended, but most of the entire UNSC fleet was stationed in a light orbit around the blue, green rock.  
  
"I don't like this, too many of our ships here. Something's wrong." said Cortana.  
  
"I'll give you one guess at what it is." replied Master Chief.  
  
Just then the Comm. Unit burst to life.  
  
#This is the UNSC station 'Protector', the Covenant have discovered Earths' location. Dock with maximum haste and report to Admiral Stevenson#  
  
#By the way good to see you#  
  
"Good to see you too 'Protector'" Master Chief said with true feeling.  
  
Though he was conceived in a test tube and born in a lab, he still had human emotions. The training taught him to suppress the feelings, but they showed through sometimes, usually at times of inaction, during battle he was a machine.  
  
They were bred for combat and trained since birth, The Spartan Project was the military code name for his kind. Using genetic modification and the latest powered amour they were super soldiers. Able to take incredible damage and still function, they were mankind's best hope against the Covenant.  
  
Knowing this, the Covenant launched an orbital raid on the Spartan training complex. Master Chief, aboard the Pillar of Autumn escaped the raid, as far as he knew he was the only remaining Spartan.  
  
The docking went quickly and smoothly. The hanger crews, swarming towards the ship to get it refuelled and ready for action, stopped and stared in awe as Master Chief strolled down the entrance ramp. Everyone had heard about the Spartan massacre on Reach, and heard rumours of a surviving Spartan but none of them had seen one in the flesh.  
  
"Good to have you with us Sir." Someone called out.  
  
Master Chief acknowledged with a nod and headed straight for the bridge.  
  
"Talkative fella ain't he?" said one of the hanger crew.  
  
"Button it and get back to work marine, don't you know there's a war on!" bellowed the Sergeant in charge.  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Around the planet of Felour another fleet was amassing. Smoother and sleeker than the Human ships the Covenant's were also faster and better armed. Captain Jen'raik, over seven feet tall and adorned in gleaming gold armour, stood on the bridge of the Covenant flagship 'Devine Light' and studied the sensor readouts. All available ships had been converging on Felour for days now. The attack was almost ready.  
  
In the end they acquired Earths' co-ordinates by sheer luck. The battle cruiser 'True Path' encountered a human scout ship by chance. Its was totally shut down, no power signals of any kind. The boarding action was quick and decisive with only a handful of humans taken prisoner.  
  
It turned out that the ship was shut down to allow emergency repairs to the main Sub-Space generator. That didn't interest the Covenant. What did interest them was the fact that they had the ships' captain and the ships' A.I captured. The captain died under interrogation; first the prisoners were executed in front of him every time he refused to answer. The captain had been in command of the vessel for 4 years and he saw many of his friends and comrades murdered because of his refusal to comply, it was hard but compared to the lives that would be lost if they found Earth it was nothing.  
  
That was when the physical torture began.  
  
Amazing his captors, he withstood constant intense pain for two days before passing away without giving them anything, not even his name or rank.  
  
That left the A.I which proved even more stubborn than the captain. They couldn't hurt it or bribe it, but they could hack it. It took two months of the best computer people the Covenant had to finally get what they wanted. Not only did they have to hack an incredibly complex system, they had to do it in a totally unknown programming language.  
  
With Earth's co-ordinates the Covenant were confident of their final victory, but they didn't just want to defeat the humans, they wanted to break them. All the other species the Elites' had 'converted' to their religion had fell within two years of their discovery, but they had been fighting the humans for over twenty years now.  
  
Recently some of the other races, especially the Grunts, had been less than happy to take orders from the Elites, and there had even been an attempted mutiny onboard the destroyer 'Heavenly Strike'. It was crushed easily and all the perpetrators were publicly executed, but it got the High Priests worried. They needed an outstanding victory to show their strength and get the troops back in line.  
  
Captain Jen'raik growled in happiness, the closest thing to a smile for an Elite, as the last of the ships dropped out off Sub-Space and moved into position.  
  
Everything was ready. 


	2. Armed 2 the teeth

Chapter 4  
  
"You couldn't have chosen a better time to arrive Master Chief." Said Admiral Stevenson. He was a tall man, over six feet with a silvery white mane of hair far longer than regulation length. The Chief guessed that being admiral of the fleet allowed you to bend the rules here and there.  
  
Before replying he took a quick glance around the bridge. Over twenty UNSC soldiers were busy at their stations, some grouped round large holographic projection maps displaying the locations of the fleet, others communicating with different sections of the space station and Earth. Not one soul was idle and the hum of conversation was everywhere.  
  
"What's the situation Admiral?" replied Master Chief, he had downloaded Cortana so she could get updated. Now it was his turn.  
  
The Admiral looked grim "Well son, its bad. One of our scout ships was boarded during essential work on the engines and the A.I was hacked. Luckily while they were busy hacking her she was doing the same to them. She managed to get off a coded message warning us and also sent us the latest Covenant battle map. Our boys have been looking at it and they believe the Covvies will amass their fleet at a planet named Felour."  
  
Master Chief nodded "How long have we got?"  
  
"Well, that's a difficult question. Travel time from Felour to Earth is about a week for the Covvies and from the battle map we got it would take at least 3 weeks for them to get together a large enough attack force to consider sufficient."  
  
"A month at the worst then, when did we receive the warning from the A.I?" Master Chief spoke slowly dreading the answer.  
  
"Just over a month today"  
  
Both men stood in silence for a few seconds, the battle for the entire human race could begin at any minute.  
  
"We're not done yet son, not by a long shot. I want you to get down to the armoury, there's a few new toys the tech boys have come up with and there's someone down there I'm sure you'll want to see again."  
  
Chief began to ask who but the Admiral cut him off. "You'll see soon enough son, now get moving, time is against us. Once you're done down there we'll organise a meeting to discuss our strategic options."  
  
"Yes Sir." Chief snapped a salute and headed for the door. Just as he reached it, it slid open and a young soldier, maybe only nineteen, walked straight into him. Data tablets scattered everywhere. "WHY DON'T YOU L...!" Started the young man before looking up into the Chiefs' mirrored visor. "Oh shit! Umm I mean err." Finally getting his act together he snapped to attention. "Sorry Sir, my fault entirely." Getting down on his knees he started gathering the wayward tablets.  
  
Master Chief looked down at this young man, barely out of childhood, many thousands of miles from home, waiting for a superior enemy, but there none the less.  
  
"What's your name marine?"  
  
The lad looked up in surprise, not sure if the question was meant for him. Recovering quickly he stood up and froze, his face inches away Chiefs' visor. Seeing his reflection warped, like the House of Mirrors at the fairground, damn near freaked him out.  
  
What Master Chief did next almost put him on his back.  
  
Taking a step back, Chief reached up to his neck and released the seal on his helmet. With a quiet hiss as the pressure equalised, he lifted the helmet clear and held it under one arm.  
  
The teenage soldier, expecting some half metal monster was shocked at the calm handsome face before him. Brown eyes with matching short brown hair and a square chin. He just stood there staring for at least five second until he realised he'd been asked a question.  
  
"Urm, Private Dyane Cole. Registration 043..."  
  
"I'm John, Spartan Master Chief, here let me help you" said John kneeling down and picking up the last few tablets. As he handed them to Dyane the lad stuttered a thank you sir and entered the bridge.  
  
John made his way to the armoury thinking about the encounter. All his friends, actually his brothers he supposed, as they were bred from the same genetic stock, were annihilated on Reach. He was alone, maybe his only friend was Cortana and she wasn't even human. Then again he wasn't strictly human either.  
  
Looking up he realised he was at the armoury, he'd been walking pretty much on autopilot. The door slid open and he went inside. Onboard the Pillar of Autumn the armoury was just a single long corridor, onboard the Protector it was more like a warehouse. Seeing what looked like offices at the opposite side of the room Chief headed towards them. Passing rack upon rack of weapons, M6D Pistols, MA5B Assault Rifles, S2 AM Sniper Rifles, M90 Shotguns (His personal favourite) and M19 SSM Rocket Launchers.  
  
He was so engrossed with the tools of his trade he didn't notice the approaching man in a lab coat.  
  
The man cleared his throat and John turned to face him. He was the stereotypical mad scientist, maybe sixty years old, barely five feet tall with a shock of bright white curly hair and thick glasses that magnified his eyes to monstrous proportions.  
  
"Master Chief I presume?" Said the scientist in a deep baritone voice that didn't sound like it belonged to someone so small. "I'm Dr. Isaac Heinlien, head scientific and weapon researcher for the UNSC, pleased to meet you." The small man extended his hand and John shook it.  
  
"It an honour to meet you Dr. Heinlien, didn't you design the first MJOLNIR armour and the M41 Light Anti-Aircraft gun fitted on most Warthogs?"  
  
"Ahh yes, my reputation proceeds me." Replied Isaac, a smile forming on his wrinkled face. "As does yours Master Chief, I've just been looking at Cortana's report on your last mission. I would be very interested to hear about it in more detail, especially the Halo weapon and the A.I monitor, now what was it called? Oh yes 343 Guilty Spark. Yes very interesting indeed. But we have other matters to deal with first, follow me."  
  
The Scientist walked towards a large blast door with yellow and black diagonal warning stripes on. Leaning towards the retinal scanner activated it and after a second the doors slide open with a quiet hiss. Inside was a sealed rack of weapons, some of which John didn't recognise, a two-meter tall metal cylinder, and a long wide corridor, a firing range judging by the scorch marks and bullet holes along the walls.  
  
"Right first thing first, as you said before I designed the first MJOLNIR armour, what you are wearing now was the second generation of the battle suit." As he spoke he moved to the large cylinder, tapped in a key code and activated another retinal scanner. The front of the cylinder slid round to reveal a MJOLNIR suit, almost exactly the same as the one John was wearing, as far as he could tell anyway.  
  
"Now this is the latest battle suit, one of only two in existence, its shield has been upgraded, in tests it has taken nearly double the amount of damage than your suit before collapsing. But that's not all. The motor servos have been upgraded making you far stronger and the basic armour and targeting systems have been given an overhaul as well. I'll give you a few minutes to get changed" With that Isaac walked down the firing range and began to calibrate the targets.  
  
John inspected his new suit for a second, it was slightly bulkier than the old one but that was about it. Placing his helmet on the floor the he disengaged his suits locking clamps and set about removing it, feeling a slight twinge as the neural interface disconnected. Picking up the new suit was quite a chore, without the increased strength from his suit the new one felt like it weighed a ton, and he was damn strong without his suit. In a few minutes he was in the new armour and testing the joints, it was a lot better than the old one. It didn't even feel like he was wearing armour the freedom of movement he had.  
  
"You've out done yourself Dr. Heinlien, this is amazing"  
  
"Thank you, I'm quite proud of it myself." replied the Isaac with a smug smile. "If you put your helmet on you will find a couple of extra vision modes, Night vision and thermal imaging."  
  
John did so and cycled to night vision, everything went bright green. As the Dr. turned off the lights he could make out the room as if it was daylight, all be it green daylight. When he switched to thermal mode it all went blue apart from the Dr. who stood out as an orangey red humanoid. Switching back to normal view it was pitch black until Isaac turned the lights back on. Very handy thought John.  
  
Isaac approached the sealed weapons rack. "Now, onto the weapons. You'll have to help me with these it's a two man job to carry them without suit on. The first section slid up and John picked up the weapon. No wonder the Dr. needed help, the gun was as long as he was tall. Resembling the LAAGs on Warthogs but with five extra barrels bringing the total to eight. The weight was negligible with his suits augmentation.  
  
"Now this is my kind of weapon!" exclaimed John.  
  
"Yes, the Minigun, its very similar to the Warthog mounted LAAG but fires smaller calibre armour penetrating slugs at a rate of over 1000 per minute. The small calibre of the bullets allows 4000 rounds to fit inside. The bullets are also made of a titanium alloy meaning they will penetrate even the thickest armour. In tests it obliterated a Scorpion Main Battle Tank in just under a minute."  
  
John took the Minigun over to the range. Aiming at a Hunter shaped target as he pulled the trigger, the eight barrels span into action. Within a second they were at optimum speed and the firing mechanism kicked in. The noise was incredible as hundreds of rounds were thrown at the target, the bright red tracer fire almost forming a continuous stream. After ten seconds the Chief eased off the trigger and the barrels slowed to a stop with a metallic clicking. A grin spread across his face as he watched the target fall into pieces.  
  
John walked back to the weapons case. "What else have you got?"  
  
The next half hour was spent trying a number of new weapons, a chemical flamethrower that could shoot a long thin steam of fire or launch a huge fireball that would burn for hours, a new type of rocket launcher that Chief could control once fired via his targeting computer and a small wrist laser that acquired its charge from the suit's shield generator.  
  
He was just zooming in on a distant target with a modified sniper rifle with increased zoom, barrel stabiliser and an improved rate of fire, when voice he thought he would never hear again spoke. 


	3. The waiting is over

Thanks to Zen Lon, Shadowsniper & Br Wells for reviewing. This is my first try at fanfic so all reviews r appreciated.  
  
I'm on holiday for a week on Friday, but I will have my laptop so expect more in a week.  
  
I think its gonna be longer than I expected cause I've got loads of ideas floating about. (I want to get the Monitor for Halo involved somehow).  
  
Anyway, on with the fun.  
  
Chapter 5  
  
"Put that down, you know I was always a better shot that you!"  
  
Chief turned to see a man wearing MJOLNIR armour silhouetted in the doorway. As he stepped into the room he could see the camouflage pattern of a SPARTAN sniper. "That's no way to address a superior officer!" Chief said jokingly. "Its great to see you Steve, I thought I was the only survivor."  
  
John had known Steve for as long as he could remember. They were in the same Spartan squad, which meant they grew up together, trained together and ate together. Steve was the best shot he had ever seen. He recalled one time they were on the shooting range on Reach and he was throwing coins in the air, three at a time, for Steve to shoot at. He threw sixty coins in the air that day and all sixty hit the ground with a neat, smoking bullet hole in.  
  
"You almost were, I was trapped under a girder for damn near three days before the rescue boys found me, another three weeks in intensive care and one prosthetic hand later and I'm ready for some payback. I also hear you've been having some fun without me, you can tell me about it on the way to the Admiral, we've got an assignment."  
  
The two Spartans thanked Dr. Heinlien and made their way to the bridge with John relating the highlights of the Halo mission, the parasitic aliens called the Flood and 343 Guilty Spark, the monitor of Halo installation four.  
  
Steve spoke up then. "So this Monitor thing said you were at installation four, meaning there's at least three more of these weapons somewhere in the universe."  
  
"Yeah, not a pleasant thought is it?"  
  
"No, but if we could control one it would give us the edge against the Covvies."  
  
Chief thought about this for a second. "No, I think it would be too risky, and anyway we have no idea where the other ones are, if they still exist at all."  
  
At that they arrived at the bridge.  
  
A few heads turned to look as they stomped toward the Admiral but most were busy at their stations.  
  
Admiral Stevenson ushered them over to a holographic representation of Earth. "O.K guys its time to get you deployed. As you probably know the Covvies won't be able to approach Earth on mass because of our orbital gun batteries and missile silos, what we expect is for them to send their best troops to knock these out so their main invasion can begin. This is where you two come in. As you know our largest orbital defence base is in the Artic, you are being sent there to bolster the troops for the first wave of attacks, once the threat has been minimised you will be re-deployed to key areas."  
  
"What have we got when we get there?" Asked the Chief, already thinking of battle strategies.  
  
"The 2nd and 3rd UNSC infantry battalions and the 7th armoured corps. are already deployed in and around the base, they are under the control of General Madison, he's proved his skill and bravery in many campaigns and is a very capable General. "When do we move?"  
  
"As soon as you've loaded a Pelican drop ship with what you need. Though there is one more thing."  
  
"Go on." prompted the Chief.  
  
"Cortana has requested that she goes on the mission with you. UNSC command has authorised the request but the final decision is up to you though."  
  
It was easy for John to decide, without Cortana the destruction of Halo would have been impossible and he almost certainly would have died. "Where can I find her?"  
  
Stevenson motioned towards a comm. terminal. John hit a few buttons and Cortana's holo image appeared before him.  
  
"Hey Chief." Said the synthesised female voice. "Ready to save the world again?"  
  
"That's what I'm here for. You ready?  
  
"Always."  
  
With that, John removed the crystal matrix that held her program and inserted it into the waiting slot in his helmet. A small shudder ran through his body as he felt Cortana checking his life signs and systems. He had to admit, he'd missed her.  
  
Chapter 6  
  
The briefing ended soon after that and the trio were heading for the hanger area to supervise to loading of their ship.  
  
They had got halfway before the alarms started.  
  
#ALL LEVELS BATTLE STATIONS, SLIP-SPACE RIFT DETECTED!!# Blared the tanoy.  
  
John and Steve broke into a jog, hoping it was a friendly craft. Their hope didn't last long.  
  
#ALL LEVELS, COVENANT BATTLE GROUP DETECTED IN SECTION 6351.673.34. ASSUME HOSTILE, REPEAT ASSUME HOSTILE. ATTACK IS AUTHORISED# then, in a break from protocol #GIVE 'EM HELL BOYS!! #  
  
John and Steve were now sprinting headlong towards the hanger bay. People were darting everywhere, aiming guns, sending signals and checking maps. The human race was united against a common enemy and everybody, black, white, young and old were working together to survive. If they were victorious, this day would go down in history.  
  
Flying through the blast doors and nearly scattering half a dozen marines, the Spartans arrived in the hanger bay. A sergeant with plasma burn scars covering half his face ran up to them.  
  
"Your birds ready to go Sir!" pointing to a Pelican ready to deploy. "The pilot Jenkins is one of the best we have!"  
  
An explosion rocked the station and Steve quickly grabbed the sergeant before he fell.  
  
"Good job sergeant and good luck" shouted the Chief as he ran towards the waiting dropship.  
  
"Don't worry about us Sir, we'll show them alien bastards they choose the wrong race to fuck with!"  
  
As they strapped into the Pelican and the ramp closed Chief just heard the sergeant bawling out another soldier. "MOVE IT MARINE, YOU'RE NOT AT PLAYSCHOOL ANYMORE!!" then the loading ramp sealed shut and he felt the familiar lurch as the ship disengaged and dropped into nothingness. 


	4. First Blood

Chapter 7  
  
Brilliant sun beamed down on to the field of snow, the only break in the total whiteout was the cluster of squat buildings near a shear ice cliff that soared over 100 feet above. In the largest of these buildings, the command centre with two landing pads and a communications dish on top, Major Niles Pullman gave the attack order.  
  
Over eighty dents, twelve feet across, appeared in the unbroken snow. Theses dents transformed into gaping holes, revealing their deadly secret.  
  
All was silent as the marines, deep underground in the main base, franticly searched for targets. A deep rumble sounded, growing to a deafening roar as the first of the missiles struggled against gravity to pull its lethal form into the daylight. Just as its conical nose was clearing the silo, the others began their long climb.  
  
The noise on the surface was incredible, the ground was shaking like a 6.4 earthquake as a dozen gigantic missiles streaked into the sky. Within a minute the first of the defence missiles had exited the atmosphere. In the vacuum of space there was no sound as the head of the missile split, and ten separate thermonuclear warheads, each with their own targets, shot forward with new energy. The missiles behind did exactly the same and within five minutes of the attack order being given, one hundred and twenty nuclear bombs were going to give the Covenant Earth's welcome greeting.  
  
The alien fleet had been out of Slip-Space for only ten minutes but they were already in formation and preparing the first wave of attack. As the human strategist's had thought, they couldn't risk their large cruisers against Earth's orbital and ground defences.  
  
Aboard the Devine Light Captain Jen'raik gave the order for the first attack wave to launch, hundreds of thirty foot U-shaped troopships disengaged from their motherships along with their fighter escorts to give Earth a welcome of their own.  
  
About halfway they met the nukes.  
  
A dozen of the smaller warheads with intelligent targeting veered away from their original co-ordinates and began tracking the alien dropships. Frantic Jackal pilots dropped flares and chaff in a futile effort to shake the missiles. Though the invasions ships were well spread out the first fifty- megawatt explosion vaporised five ships and crippled two, leaving the surviving occupants dead in space, contemplating whether to die from starvation or commit suicide, there would be no rescue sent by the Covenant commanders.  
  
A total of forty-six were destroyed or were left dead in space, which could be considered even worse for the crews onboard. Earths' first "Hello" had been received.  
  
Chapter 8  
  
As the first nukes were hitting home, Master Chief and his reunited brother had just passed Earths' atmosphere. The sergeant in the hanger bay was right, the pilot, Jenkins, was good. The entry through the atmosphere was smooth, well, as smooth as you can get considering the hulls glowing red- hot and the crafts being buffeted by incredible winds and pressure.  
  
John and Steve had a chance to see what was in the armoury.  
  
The technicians in charge had done an excellent job, all of Dr. Hienlien's new weapons were aboard along with sufficient ammunition for many hours of combat operations.  
  
The loading ramp opened whilst they were still approaching the base and the two Spartans were blessed with an amazing view of the Artic tundra, they could see for miles, able to pick out the gapping silos of the missiles that had already flown and knowing many more were still hidden under the snow, primed and ready for their time to kill.  
  
As they touched down to the roar of the Pelicans' retro rockets a group of soldiers ran to meet them. Chief disembarked and approached the Sergeant, a small man, only around five foot four but incredibly heavy built, he looked like a human Pit Bull Terrier and just as mean.  
  
"I need a squad of good men to unload what my partner tells them, then to arm up and get into the bird. We're gonna set up a sniper post on the top of that crevasse." Said Chief pointing to the huge ice cliff.  
  
The squat Sergeant barked the orders to his men then turned back to the Chief. "Where do you want our armour situated? General Madison and most of the 7th armoured corps are deployed underground. We've got two Scorpion MBTs' and five Warthogs, three with LAAGs' and two with rocket launchers. I've got the two Scorpions situated on either side of the base but the Warthogs haven't been deployed yet, they're not to good in the snow"  
  
Master Chief scanned the area and spotted a few nearby mounds of snow and ice that looked large enough to conceal the Warthogs. As he was pointing these out the jets of the Pelican burst into life, taking the snipers to find their foxholes.  
  
Within five minutes everything was in position, the Warthogs, partially concealed behind their mounds with a driver and gunner in each. The marines, some hunkered down behind makeshift cover on the roofs of the buildings, others, the unlucky ones, dug into trenches in the snow. They weren't a moment too soon. As soon as Chief had loaded and checked his Minigun then crouched behind the metal bastion of the base the first of the alien dropships was spotted.  
  
At first it was an insignificant speck in the brilliant blue sky, rapidly growing till the familiar U-shape was clearly visible. More began to appear and the Chief began to count them. Five...Eight....now twelve, Seventeen. Damn! Thought John, more than he expected. He'd got to twenty before the first craft was in range. Twenty dropships, at least ten creatures in each of them. Over two hundred incoming Covenant.  
  
John stood and took aim, looking at the pristine white snow and knowing that in a few minutes it would be corrupted with the blood of many creatures, Human and Alien alike. He could hear a murmur of approval from the uncharacteristically quiet marines as his huge weapon spun into action.  
  
Bright tracer fire leapt from the spinning barrels like flaming arrows, sweeping the gun in an arc he raked the side of the craft with titanium slugs. The armour penetrating bullets easily pierced the side of the ship and carried on through, cleaving support struts in two and liquidising passengers. The right hand extremity of the U-shaped ship was blown clear off and crashed into the snow, the rest of the ship following seconds later ploughing a massive groove in the snow. It wasn't the huge explosion John had hoped for but it had the desired effect on the marines morale.  
  
"YEEHAW! Way to go Sir! Them filthy Covvies are gonna wish they stayed at home!"  
  
John didn't have time to reply, the rest of the dropships were coming into range. Seeing their lead ship destroyed so easily the others were more cautious, the underslung twin plasma cannons opened up with uncanny accuracy blasting Chiefs' position. He managed to down one more before ducking back into cover to allow his shields to recharge.  
  
Chapter 9  
  
Steve watched the approaching ships through his scope, his HUD readout in his helmet put the temperature at minus eleven degrees Celsius. The cold didn't bother him but he could tell his squad was suffering; he could hear at least one pair of teeth chattering. Once the plasma starts flying they'll soon warm up the thought.  
  
As they came into range he checked the wind and elevation one more time and shifted into firing position, both eyes open, one looking down the scope, the other looking past to help judge range (the scope automatically ranged but Steve felt more comfortable using it as a guide and trusting his own instincts).  
  
A small wry smile crossed his face as the first of the craft was blown apart and crashed into the snow, closely followed by a second. The Doc wasn't kidding about his new toys.  
  
Now he saw rockets from the Warthog's blasting into the sky and the returning plasma fire. The dropships were moving into landing positions and the sides dropped revealing the rows of Covenant troops. He took a deep breath, let out a little and held the rest as he drew a bead on an Elite commando.  
  
This was what he lived for.  
  
Loosing of two shots in quick succession he didn't even wait to see if they struck home, he knew as soon as he pulled the trigger that they would be true. He had already fired another two shots before the first two bored the Elite another orifice.  
  
Now his whole squad was firing, killing scores before they had even touched down. He'd just despatched with another three Elites when he saw two ships alter course and head towards their position. This could be a problem he thought, the only heavy weapons they had were still onboard the Pelican and there was no way he could reach it in time. Superheated plasma lanced at them, melting the snow and their cover with it. Suddenly one of the craft jinked to the side, its stabiliser torn of by Minigun fire, as it spun it collided with its twin and both craft began to drop guns still firing all the time.  
  
"FALL BACK NOW, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!!!" 


End file.
